The term “craft tool” as used herein is a computer-implemented tool for audio and/or visual editing and/or broadcast purposes. Examples craft tools include, for example, editing software used to edit audio and/or visual productions (projects), e.g. film editing, programme editing. Other examples of craft tools include so-called sequencers that are normally used for audio-only productions. Other examples of craft tools include tools for broadcast automation that enable audio and video cues to be cued-up and played according to a schedule or when triggered from a control panel.
The term “project” as used herein refers to an audio or audio-visual production, for example a particular cut of a film, or an episode of a TV programme, or a mix of a song or a production going to air. A project file within a craft tool is a central file in which all the information about a particular audio or audio-visual production is stored and points at the media files that are used in the project.
The term “sequence” as used herein, and as typically used in craft tool terminology, refers a particular edit within a project. For example, if the project is a given film, then examples of sequences (edits) might be a pre-watershed version, the trailer version, the director's cut etc.
The term “metadata” as used herein refers to any information of whatever form relating to a project or a sequence for a project. Examples of metadata include: a project name; a creator name; names of media files used in the project; technical information about the media files used in a project such as bit depth, sample rate, global positioning system (GPS) location, exposure, etc.; timing data about where and how each media file is cut and edited into the programme; process data: settings information about how sections of audio or video have been processed (e.g. visual effects); free text or customized fields that an editor types in or imports into a project; map and/or GPS data; audio levels data; graphics data; colour data; rights data.
The term “content” is herein to refer to media held in a media file. A media file can contain content in the form of raw audio, video footage, image, graphics, etc. The content in the media files are loaded into the craft tool by an editor operating the craft tool in order to create a project.
An editor may have used music tracks in his production. The editor normally has a compliance obligation to make a list of all the music used, with the times in and out, and a list of all other associated fields which show the identities and ownership stakes of the interested parties in each piece of music; composer, publisher, arranger etc. Such a list of music with all the associated metadata is commonly known as a cue sheet. It is a significant overhead for an editor to identify the piece of music used, then to find out and attach the metadata for that music, and then to organise the meta data into a cue sheet format.
Most craft tools can export a standard edit decision list (EDL file) which can then be automatically interrogated to find the filename of each music file used and the timing of when it was used in the production. Automated “EDL-to-cue sheet” software is available that uses filenames to lookup against a database of music titles and their associated metadata, thereby avoiding the need for the editor to have to find that information.
However, an approach using such automated EDL-to-cue sheet software relies on the file name of the music track as used by the editor in the project being exactly the same as the file name in the look-up database. This is a problem since the editor may use an abbreviation, or may not be aware of the name that is in a database. For example, the editor might refer to a Madonna track as Madi1, whereas the database of metadata could use a totally different name.
Also, before an editor can create an EDL file from a project, the editor has to carry out a lot of time-intensive and error-prone organisation in the craft tool so that the EDL includes all the information that is relevant to a cue sheet. (e.g., voiceover and other musical tracks must be weeded out and audio tracks must be arranged in a particular way for the EDL export functions to work).